Good Morning Bloggers,

apologies for the messed up text I sent you last time, will go back and check in future, here is another excerpt for you all,

“I can hear it too” said Petunia.                                                                                                “Chickens, where are you?”  Arif shouted.                                                                                 “Celine, Mariah, Whitney! Where are you?” Petunia called out.                                                 “Up here!” Came the reply. They all heard it and looked above their heads and sure enough on a bough of a flowering cherry tree, stood the chickens, looking down at them. The elves and Petunia flew up to greet them.                                                                                                       “Hi! You are all OK then?” asked Petunia.                                                                                    “We are all just fine!” replied Whitney.                                                                                      “We have been living in this tree with a little squirrel family. They are great” giggled Mariah.“Yes, they have just had babies. We have been helping to look after them whilst they went off and foraged for food for the little ones. We sing to the babies all the time and a small crowd usually gathers at the base of the tree.” Said Whitney.                                                    “We love it here.” Celine said to Petunia.                                                                                   “We are not going back to the garden, so don’t even ask!” retorted Whitney. “Don’t worry, we haven’t come to take you back!” said Arif, “We have just come to see when and where the concert is being held, and to see if you are alright, which you obviously are!”                          “Oh we don’t need to do a concert now; the animals and birds just come to our tree and listen to our music whenever they want to.” Celine replied.                                                                 “Well, I still think you should hold a concert by the Weeping willow tree. You promised all those creatures that came to watch the competition a concert.                                                          “I think it would be quite rude not to do it, especially, when it comes to the competition next year, if you haven’t done at least one concert the judges will probably disqualify you for not keeping your promise.” said Petunia, angrily.

“Calm down.” said Elgar. “If the chickens don’t want to be bothered going all the way over to the weeping willow tree and sing again for the entire audience of creatures who cheered for them at the competition, they don’t have to, it’s  their decision, it’s entirely up to them!”                “Well that’s settled then!” said Whitney, “No concert!”                                                                “OK! See Ya!” said Petunia, then off she flew. The elves dutifully followed her. She had stopped by the willow tree.                                                                                                                             “Why are you stopping?” asked Arif.                                                                                           “We just have to give the chickens a couple of minutes to have a chat and I think you will find they will change their minds.” said Petunia. She sat at the base of the tree, Elgar sat next to her and held her hand, and he asked her in a soft voice, “How do you know they will change their minds?”                                                                                                                                       “Because, they are girls, silly!” giggled Petunia.

Back at the cherry tree, Celine said, “It was a great feeling when all those creatures were cheering for us and asking for more wasn’t it?”                                                                              “I loved it” said Whitney.                                                                                                          “Yes! Me too” Mariah said, “But, it’s too late now. Petunia and the fairies would probably have organised a concert for us and she has gone now. We don’t know when she will visit again, it could be next year!”                                                                                                                     “My goodness! We didn’t even ask Petunia how everyone was. We just talked about ourselves, I feel awful now.” Celine said sorrowfully.

Back at the willow tree; Petunia said, “You guys stay here, I will fly back and have quick word with the chickens.”

“Hello! Again” Petunia said to the chickens.                                                                              “OH! Petunia, Petunia, thank goodness you came back, “They all said in unison.”                “Why is that?” asked Petunia, knowingly.                                                                                          “We forgot to ask you how everyone is. How are Daphne, Jack, Petal, Blossom, and Lilly? Are they all well?” Celine asked her.                                                                                                  “We want you to organise a concert for us” blurted out Whitney.                                                  “Just a minute!” Celine interrupted, “We haven’t found out how our other friends are yet! Whitney, you are selfish!”Petunia replied;                                                                                  “Jack and Blossom are still together, and are, right at this moment organising a proper wedding together. Daphne is still looking after all gods’ creatures. Petal is as busy as usual and Lilly is still organising us all. We live with the elves now at the old oak tree. We left Drake and Donnella in our old hedgerow and we have not seen them since. (She paused) And yes -we would love to organise a concert for you.” The chickens were, once again, very excited.                            “When and how will you organise the concert? Who shall we invite?” They all chirped together .“Well, now we know where you are living, we can keep in touch and we will organise a date. Tell all the chatterboxes about the concert and the word will soon spread; we shall go back to the old oak tree and find out the wedding arrangements. We will let you know, a.s.a.p. and maybe, I   can entice all the fairies to come back with me. We will then tell you all the details. You girls just keep practising!” Petunia said with a big smile on her face.                                                     “We would love to see everybody again!” said Celine. “Thank you, thank you Petunia. See you soon!” She flew back to the weeping willow tree.“Ok boys, we are on!” she said with a big grin on her face. The elves looked bemused. “How did you do that?” asked Elgar.

Enjoy

Polly x

Hi Bloggers,

Well no news from the publisher as yet so no alternative to unfold Part two to you who have been following me. Thank you

The Hedgerow Diaries

Part Two - Summer Time adventures

Chapter One

Cherry Tree Chickens.

Donnella and Drake had settled in very nicely in the hedgerow, they had a good supply of worms and slugs and water.

They had made some friends who used to visit the hedgerow, but not many. The hedgehog was a regular visitor, along with some hedge sparrows. They talked about the white chickens and the concert they had promised everybody. Everyone was awaiting the news of when and where the concert would take place.

The lark stopped by. He was looking for the fairies. He said,                                                         “I say you trolls! Any news of the chicken’s concert yet?” Donnella replied,                               “We are not trolls, we are goblins and no, we have no news!”                                                    “OK then, I’m off” said the lark, sniffily.                                                                                         “Is there any of Daphne’s pie left?” Drake asked. Drake suddenly remembered Daphne;        “The fairies! Where did they go?”                                                                                            “Have you seriously only just remembered the fairies?” asked Donnella.                                      “I remembered the chickens because we saved them, but I forgot all about the fairies!”           “My goodness Drake, what do you think about all the time?” she said.

“My father and brothers and the old days,” sighed Drake. “I’m not saying I don’t love you and love living here with you, but I do miss the Wah Wah tribe, don’t you?”                                    “Well I’m glad about that because I have something to tell you!” said Donnella, with a glint in her eyes.                                                                                                                                                “Go on then, it can’t be that bad!”                                                                                                      ”We are having a baby!” Drake nearly choked on his breakfast.                                                 That’s great news! Let’s tell the world!” he said as he hugged her. He started babbling, “I will have to make a new home and we will have to get clothes for him and get everything sorted out. I will make a list of what we need to do.”                                                                                      “What makes you think it will be a him? What if HE is a HER?” asked Donnella.                       “I thought you always had a boy first!” replied Drake, with a puzzled look on his face.           “Well I was a first born,” chuckled Donnella, “And I am not a boy! You are silly and naive at times, Drake.”                                                                                                                               “We need a name for him or her; we will choose a boy name and a girl name, just in case.” Drake was so excited. Donnella was a bit worried though, she really needed her own mother with her at a time like this, but there was no way they could go back to the tribe after all this time. She would have to manage alone. The baby would be with them in less than six months so they needed to get organised.

Meanwhile, back at the old oak tree, the fairies and the elves were getting on famously. They worked together to gather food and Daphne still had a steady stream of new hedgerow animals to tend to. She was as busy as ever making her lotions and potions. One morning Lilly said, “I wonder how the singing chickens are getting on with their life in the wilderness?”

“I’m sure they are fine, but it would be nice to know when the concert is. Shall we go and have a look for them and help them sort out the concert?” Petal suggested.                                        “Erm, don’t we need to get a certain wedding organised first?” replied Jack.                               “Oh yes please, that would be lovely.” beamed Blossom.

Elgar suggested to them, “Why don’t Petunia and I go and look for the chickens and Blossom and Jack, Daphne and Lilly stay here and organise the wedding!”                                              “We will come with you said Arif and Foster.”                                                                               “Great idea!” agreed Jack. They set off. Firstly heading for the weeping willow tree, as that was the last place they had seen the chickens. It seemed a lot further away than it had when they last did this journey.

Petunia was by Elgar’s side. They had become very close in the past few weeks, they got on really well and he was very caring and attentive towards her. He looked over at her as they flew side by side and grabbed her hand.                                                                                               “Come on slow coach, keep up! Are you day dreaming again?” Elgar said in a very soft voice. Petunia smiled back at him.                                                                                                             “I think I can see the weeping willow tree” said Foster.                                                              “Yes that’s it” replied Arif. “Can’t see any chickens though!” They looked around all the hedgerows nearby. They also looked at the bases of trees, the long grasses and even the stream, but there was no sign of the chickens. Petunia and the elves searched through brambles, and hawthorn bushes. Still there was no sign of them.                                                                          Suddenly Fosterr announced, “I can hear singing!”                                                                 “Where?” asked Elgar.They all stood still and listened

Enjoy.

Good Morning  Bloggers,

A very good bank holiday weekend to you all here is the final excerpt to part one of the book. If you have been following please leave a comment.

The fairies left. Petunia was relieved because she did not have to use a pocket of fairy dust. Elgar was also relieved for her.

The fairies and Elgar flew straight back to the elves old oak tree, recalling the plan they had all made the night before. As the fairies approached the oak tree they could see Blossom sitting up with Jack by her side. They were sat beside their new hideaway the elves had made for them. The elves had also made dwelling areas for each of the fairies. A toadstool for Daphne, near to a hedgerow, so that she could forage for flora and fauna for her many potions. Petals dwelling was in the middle of some buttercups and a few lovely snowdrops.  Lilies dwelling was majestic with a lovely bed of feathers and some furniture made from sticks just like Jack and Blossoms. Elgar had made sure that Petunia’s new residence was next to his in the old oak tree. Jack approached the elves and said to them, “You elves have done a great job of making us feel at home, Thank you very much!”                                                                                                                          “You are welcome.” replied Foster. Daphne was sitting underneath her toadstool crying. Lilly, upon seeing her cry went over to her and said “Daphne, please don’t cry we have a lovely home here, the chickens won; everything is just perfect what could possibly be wrong?”                      “I miss Drake and Donnella.” replied Daphne                                                                             “Yes I know you do!” Lilly said comforting her, but, we have to leave them at the old hedgerow; they will soon build themselves a new life, and forget about us.” Daphne ceased to cry but in between little sobs said, “We didn’t go and tell the other chickens like we promised we would.”                               “We have the rest of the day to do that,” Lilly replied, we will go together after our meal with the elves. Lilly then said to Daphne “I think it would be a good idea to make one of your special meals to thank them for all their hard work.”                                                                                 “Oh yes! A great idea.” said Daphne. She immediately made herself very busy and soon forgot her woes. Later, when the meal was served, the elves and fairies sat together, eating and drinking and talking amongst each other as if they were all old friends. After the meal, as dusk was falling, Lilly, Daphne and Petal decided to visit the chickens. It was a bit further to fly to the chickens than it was from their old hedgerow. As they approached the chicken compound they could see Drake and Donnella sat outside the home the fairies had made for them. The fairies were sure that they hadn’t been spotted and carried on to the other side of the hedgerow where the chickens were still out. Nigella ran up to the three fairies, “Am I glad to see you,” she said, “What has happened? Where are Mariah, Celine and Whitney?” she asked.                             “We have good news and bad news; well it’s not bad, bad, just...” Lilly was saying.                “Spit it out!” cried Delia. Daphne stepped in and said,                                                                  “The girls won the golden acorn; they beat the lark hands down.”                                         “Hurrah!” said Sophie, “Now, what’s the bad news?”                                                                “They were so good the audience demanded they do a full concert. The girls decided not to return to the coop, because they have no way of getting back and forth to do the concerts.”   “How will they survive?” asked Nigella.                                                                                    “They have a lot of new friends now so we expect someone will look after them, feed them and find them somewhere to roost.”                                                                                                  “You expect!” said Nigella, “You mean you don’t know for sure?”                                          “No, we are not sure because we had to get back and see if Blossom was alright.” replied Petal.                “Oh! I see,” Nigella continued “You disrupt our lives, take three of our sisters away and you just expect they will be alright! GO AWAY and leave us alone!” With that said Nigella turned her back on the fairies and walked into the coop.                                                                             “Don’t come back ever again!” said Sophie and Delia together. Lilly, Daphne and Petal were shocked at the chicken’s reaction to their news. They flew back to the old oak tree to report to the others.

The fairies and elves lived through the rest of spring happily together.

Drake and Donnella forgot about the fairies and set up a fine home under the hedgerow.

The white chickens were treated like celebrities wherever they went and were never short of a perch to sleep in or a meal.

The other chickens got back to their normal life, the lady never did find out where the white chickens went to.  She assumed the fox had taken them.

All was well.

Until the summer...

Enjoy x